Part One of the Switch AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of an ongoing fic series I started in April 2019. In a different world, the characters we know and love have been switched around. Jackie's a doctor while his friend Schneep goes out at night dressed as a superhero. JJ is a successful magician, and his roommate Marvin is from another time period. And let's not forget Anti, the YouTuber/computer programmer. Soon the five friends find themselves targeted by someone—or something—else.]
[One evening, a magic show is interrupted and thrown into chaos. Luckily, the local vigilante is there to take care of things, though he's not expecting the magician to have REAL magic.]
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The final trick of the magic show left the audience gasping in awe. Fantastic acts of illusion, of blue firefly lights that hovered above their heads, of water that seemed to float and dance in the hair. The masked magician swept his top hat off his head and bowed as the crowd applauded and roared. “Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind!” he said cheerfully, the mic pinned to his tuxedo picking up his voice easily and broadcasting it over the audience’s heads. “It’s time for our intermission now, so please, take ten minutes to get refreshments, use the facilities, and give your children time to stretch their legs. I promise I’ll still be here when you return. Thank you, and have a good evening!” With one final bow, the velvet curtains swept closed.
The magician pulled his mask up so it rested on top of his hair. It was made in the masquerade style, white with purple markings, and a blue outline of a star in the center of its forehead. He rubbed his eyes as the stage crew rushed about, making sure nothing happened to the stage decorations in the first thirty minutes of the show. Hour-long magic shows didn’t usually have an intermission, but the magician felt it was best for him, so that he had time to recharge out of the crowd’s eye.
Speaking of the intermission, he had someone he want to check on. He replaced his top hat but not his mask, and exited stage left. He dodged around scurrying stage crew in black until he found who it was he wanted to see. A man in a brown suit jacket with a green vest underneath, leaning on a wooden cane, was chatting with the stage manager, Darla. The magician strolled up to the pair of them, and the man looked over at him.
“Hello Jems!” The man said with a smile. “The show’s goin’ well so far. I watched it all on the tiny television. You did a good job wit’ t’at last one!”
Jameson Jackson grinned back. Marvin knew he’d been having trouble with that one, so it was good to hear that encouragement. JJ turned to Darla and pointed to the door leading from the backstage area to the dressing room hallway.
“Yes, you should be good to leave,” Darla said. She’d been working with Jameson long enough to interpret him easily when he went silent. “Just be back about a minute before the intermission ends.”
JJ nodded in understanding, then turned to Marvin with a question. “Yes, yes, ‘m comin’,” Marvin said. He shifted his weight off the cane and into a better walking position. “Lead the way.”
The two of them exited the backstage area and entered the warren of hallways the venue had for storage and rooms for the visiting performers to stay. It was low-lit, with gray-blue carpet and matching wallpaper. “How’s everything going for you so far?” JJ asked. “Good first impression of what goes on behind the scenes of the shows?”
“Oh, it’s been grand s’far,” Marvin replied. “Not much has changed from back in the day. Still busy worker bees rushin’ around. Y’even have cameras! And they’re so much better!”
JJ laughed. “Technology has made leaps and bounds. They didn’t have live video back then, did they?”
“They had television,” Marvin said defensively. “But it was a new invention. I’d never t’ink of filming t'at was—was at the same time! Wonderful!” The note of excitement in his voice was evident.
“Well, glad you’re having fun.” Jameson gave Marvin a quick one-armed squeeze. “But now, I must do as I told the audience to and get a snack. I burned up a lot of magic onstage.”
“Oh! I’ll join you! If t’at’s okay.”
“No problem, my friend. After all, you don’t have money on you, remember?”
“Ah. T'at would be a problem.”
The foyer of the venue was crowded with audience members, most of them looking to be in their 30′s or 40′s, going about their business. Getting concessions, disappearing into the bathrooms, making calls on their phones. A lot of them recognized the magician as he came out. Jameson braced himself as he saw them approaching, politely listening to their chatter with a smile and a nod, but no words. Marvin glared at them, edging in between JJ and the spectators. The crowd quickly caught on not to bother JJ, unless they wanted to have his prickly friend shooting daggers of death at them from his eyes.
“Thanks,” JJ whispered under his breath as the two of them approached the concessions stand.
“Why d’you even do these shows if you hate the crowds?” Marvin asked.
“It’s not a problem when they’re far away,” JJ shrugged. “Or when there are too many to look at at once. The problem is in conversation. And besides, why would I not do the shows? That would deprive people of this…this wonder! And amazement! You can hear it in their cheers. No matter their problems or unhappiness, they can find some excitement for just a little.”
Marvin shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Only you woul’ say t'at. But I t'ink some of these people need to learn some manners.” He glared at someone. “T’at man there has been lurkin’ in the corner t’is whole time and starin’ at ev’ryone.”
JJ glanced over to the man in question. He was tall and pretty well-built, dressed in a dark suit and standing ramrod-straight with his arms folded. “He’s fine, some people just don’t like to chat.” But if Jameson was being honest, the man was giving him an odd vibe. He shook it off and asked, “So, what treat do you want anyway?”
Marvin didn’t respond. His gaze has switched to the opposite end of the foyer. “There’s another one over there,” he said, faintly surprised. “Wearin’ the same getup and ev'rything.” He glanced around. “There’s more of them. Quite a lot, actu’lly.” All of a sudden, he grabbed Jameson’s arm. “Jems, I t’ink they’re up to no good.”
Jameson gave some of the men Marvin had pointed out a once-over. It was a bit…odd that all of these men were dressed similarly, built similarly, and standing around the edge of the crowd in a similar manner. As he watched, one of them reached inside his suit jacket…
“Marvin!” Jameson squeaked. “We have to get out of here!” He grabbed and tried to pull him away, but he was going too fast and Marvin stumbled, falling into him.
“Jems? What’s happen—”
BANG!
The loud sound of a gunshot rang throughout the venue. One person screamed, and then the crowd started to panic, scattering like rats faced with a hungry cat. In turn, the men in suits fired more shots into the air, pointing the muzzles of their guns at fleeing audience members. “Nobody move!” One of the men shouted. “Nobody’s gonna leave this room unless they want a bullet in their brain!” The crowd stopped trying to leave the foyer and instead clustered in the center.
The man who’d spoken, presumably the leader, presumably marked by the fact that he was the only one wearing a blue tie instead of a black one, yelled again. “All of you, line up against the walls! Sit down! Any sudden moves get fired at. Now!” The crowd hurried to comply.
Marvin and Jameson ended up pressed against the wall near the concessions stand, sitting huddled on the floor. Marvin looked over at his friend with wide eyes. “Ar’ya alrigh’?” he whispered.
JJ nodded. “They weren’t shooting people. But they might.” He shuddered. “Why is this happening? This can’t have anything to do with the show.”
The group of suited men were now in the center of the room, talking among themselves. Jameson narrowed his eyes at them. He muttered some words, and small wisps of blue light curled briefly around his head. Suddenly, the words of the suited men were as clear as if he’d been standing next to him.
“—the police, tell them about the…heh, situation.”
“And don’t forget to mention the demands this time.”
“Or the hostages.”
“Okay, okay, jeez, I get it. One mistake, and you’re branded for the rest of your life.”
“Well, this is the most people we got, most of them rich bastards, so there’s a bit less of a chance for error and a bit more of a chance for a bigger payday we can’t afford to mess up.”
Jameson subtly shook his head to clear the spell away. He leaned a bit closer to Marvin. “Sounds like they’re hoping to get the police to give them something. And so they’re keeping hostages to make sure their demands are met.”
“And t’at’s us?” Marvin’s grip on his cane tightened. “How’re we goin’ t’get outta t’is?”
“I…don’t know. Maybe we can just wait for the police to take care of things.”
“Who’s talking?” The leader of the gang turned around, eyes sweeping the room. “This is your only warning: no more talking, or we might start to feel the room’s a little crowded.”
Dead silence. Marvin and JJ exchanged looks of fear.
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"All units: we have a hostage situation at the Orchester. I repeat, hostage situation at the Orchester. At least 100 patrons are trapped along with an unknown number of crew. Suspects are armed."
“Volt, you suddenly went quiet. You okay?”
Schneep shook his head. Maybe listening to the police scanner while also trying to have a phone call with Jackie was not a good idea. “Yes, I am fine,” he said. “I just got something interesting on the scanner.”
“Wouldn’t happen to do with the gang that’s threatening the local theatre, would it?”
“Ah…” Schneep coughed uncomfortably. “How do you know that?”
“Rama just turned on the news,” Jackie explained, referencing the name of his spouse. “Anyway, Volt, don’t you dare go check that out.”
“Why not?” Schneep asked, almost whining. “I am already out on patrol. There are people who need help. Seems like easy equation.”
“Well, last time you went out, you basically collapsed of smoke inhalation!” Jackie said sharply. “You barely made it to my house in time! And you’re still recovering, you shouldn’t even have gone out!”
“I am fine, it should not be too difficult.” Schneep was already making his way through the city streets in the direction of the theatre.
“It shouldn’t be—you are ONE GUY going against a gang of MULTIPLE ARMED PEOPLE. C’mon, dude. You know I’m okay with this in general, but I also don’t want you to die! Let the police take care of this.”
“Sorry, Jackie, I am passing through a tunnel, you are breaking up.”
“Don’t pull that shit on me, Volt, I know you parkour.”
“What? I—kssh—cannot—kssh—hear you I have—kssh—hang—kssh—up.” And with no further words, Schneep hung up on Jackie and tucked the phone into the hidden pocket inside his suit. He was so lucky he wasn’t too far from the Orchester theatre. If he ran, he should be able to make it in a few minutes.
And indeed he did. The place had cops on all sides, which was unfortunate, seeing as how the police weren’t the biggest fan of him. They didn’t look too kindly on vigilantes who ran around with homemade gadgets that were usually much more useful than whatever they had. He’d have to be clever. Luckily, there seemed to be a weak spot in the police’s blockade near the side alley, a stretch where they’d only stationed one officer, who was currently sitting in his car drinking coffee from a thermos. Schneep slipped past him easily, and after a bit of slinking around the edge, he found a side door and slid inside.
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The hostages had been trapped inside for an hour. An hour of absolute silence and stillness, watching the gang and the guns they carried. Nobody had managed to get away, not even the stage crew. Apparently the gang had sent members backstage to make sure there was no chance of letting anyone get away.
Marvin and JJ were uncomfortable, to say the very least. And Jameson was started to wonder if there was more he could be doing to help the situation. The problem was that most of his spells were incantation-based, and he didn’t know if he wanted to risk the gang hearing him. He also wasn’t sure if trying out a spell would even help, or if it would just make everything worse.
He was interrupted from his internal debate by Marvin tapping him on the arm. When he gave him a confused look, Marvin carefully and subtly pointed to the balcony with his cane. Jameson turned his attention toward it. The balcony was supposed to lead to the…well, balcony seats, as well as have a few shortcuts for the lighting crew. Nobody was up there, as the gang had forced everyone down to the ground level. Except…somebody was up there, crouching and staring through the railing at the gang below. He was wearing a long gray coat, a blue belt, and blue gloves. A black mask covered the lower half of his face.
Wait…Jameson remembered seeing that outfit on the news. It was that vigilante, Voltage or something like that. JJ’s head whipped back toward Marvin with wide eyes. Marvin shrugged, confused.
They both watched as the vigilante stood up, and with absolutely no warning leaped over the railing and right off the balcony. Amazingly, he landed on his feet, and seemed to be perfectly fine despite a fall from that height being enough to at the very least snap an ankle. “You people are ruining a perfectly good night at the theatre!” he shouted.
Immediately, every single member of the gang turned toward him, guns raised. “Shoot him!” the leader cried.
But Voltage was already moving before the command was even given. The bullets riddled the wall where he’d just been standing, following him across the room. The hostages sitting around the edges screamed, shrinking closer to the ground. “Stay down, all of you!” Voltage shouted, clearly aimed at the hostages. He was now standing next to a large brass pot holding a plant. He kicked it, and it flew across the room much faster than it should have, hurling toward the gang, most of whom scattered.
“I told you to shoot him!” the leader yelled. “Where’d he go?!”
Voltage hadn’t gone anywhere. He’d just followed the path of the pot right into the center of the gang. He grabbed the nearest man from behind. There was a zap, and an arc of blue-white electricity came from Voltage’s gloves. The man fell to the ground, unconscious. Voltage instantly ducked, avoiding a hail of bullets and causing some of the gang members to shoot each other. He launched himself across the floor and grabbed another by the legs, shocking him unconscious too.
There were still too many. Jameson counted. Fifteen left, but four of those had been shot and were clutching their torsos where the wounds were, pretty much out of commission. So eleven left. That was too much. Voltage was good, but it was only through sheer luck that he hadn’t been shot yet. Jameson’s mind whirled, thoughts fueled by adrenaline. He had to do something.
The gang was focused on Voltage, still somehow surviving. Jameson stood up, and crept a bit closer to the fray, hoping to not be noticed. “Jems!” Marvin hissed. “Are you mad?!” When JJ didn’t bother to answer, Marvin growled and started crawling after him.
Jameson took a deep breath, and pulled his mask down onto his face. “Ixáplose, lakoi’vai,” he whispered, kneeling and touching the ground with his fingertips. A puddle of blue magic crept out from the spots where his fingers touched, spreading rapidly across the floor, heading straight for the conflict. Once the puddle reached the men’s feet, they slipped. One by one, falling and crashing to the ground. Except for Voltage, who was standing in the middle of the magic puddle perfectly alright, if shocked. His eyes followed the path of the puddle back to its source, and even under the mask JJ could see the surprise and shock on his face.
Still, Voltage recognized an opportunity, and by the time the remaining members of the gang had gotten to their feet and scrambled away from the puddle, another seven had been shocked to unconsciousness. “What the fuck?!” shouted one of the men.
The leader did the same thing Voltage did and followed the magic’s path. “You!” he roared. “I don’t know what the fuck you did, but you’ll pay!” He raised his gun.
JJ dove to the side, managing to avoid getting killed, though he felt a streak of pain, and looked down to see the bullet had grazed his arm. He scrambled back to his feet, gasping out a basic shield spell just in time for bullets to ricochet oft the sudden blue icy barrier. He closed his eyes, simply concentrating on keeping the shield up. He heard what was happening: more gunshots, more shouting, more footsteps, more electric zaps.
Until: “Stop right there, or I swear I’ll blow his brains out!”
The room went silent. JJ opened his eyes to see that all the gang members had been knocked out except for three and the leader. Voltage was standing, frozen, in the middle of the room, staring at the leader and—Jameson felt his heart stop. The shield spell flickered and died. “Marvin!” he gasped.
The gang leader was holding Marvin close to him with one arm, and holding a gun to the side of his head with the other. Marvin himself only looked sort of annoyed, but Jameson knew him well enough to see the way his hands were trembling, holding his cane tight for comfort. The leader turned to look at Jameson. “This a friend of yours, huh?” he sneered. “Well, get back to where you’re supposed to be and stop this freaky shit, and he’ll be fine.”
“Do not tell him what to do!” Voltage yelled. JJ was faintly surprised at the accent in his voice. “I thought your fight was with me!”
“Well, you too,” the leader shrugged. “Leave this place, and nobody gets hurt. Or you can take off your shocky gloves and join the others around the wall, I’m not too picky.”
Voltage laughed dryly. “Ah yes, your one redeeming quality. You think I will just leave all these people here?!”
“I dunno, it’s kinda hard to tell with—”
The leader didn’t get to finish his sentence. Marvin had adjusted the way he was holding the cane, and then slammed the end of it down into the leader’s foot. He yelped, and his grip loosened just enough for Marvin to pull away and land sprawling on the floor. “You little—” the leader didn’t get to finish that one either, or finish aiming the gun at Marvin like he’d started to, because all of a sudden a shard of blue magic came flying out of nowhere and hit him in the head. He stumbled, and looked around as if he’d forgotten what he was doing. This entire sequence was just long enough for Voltage to charge forward and zap the leader out cold.
Voltage spun around and glared at the three remaining gang members. “Well?” he demanded. The men dropped their guns and raised both hands in the air. “That’s what I thought. Kick those away from you.” They did so. Voltage nodded once, then addressed the room at large. “I will open the front doors in a moment. I advise you all to leave once that happens. And do not be afraid to relax now.” Gradually, the crowd began chattering again. Voltage began kicking all the gang members’ guns into a little pile, occasionally shooting glares at the ones remaining conscious.
JJ rushed forward, kneeling next to Marvin. “Marvin! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fuckin’ fantastic. Got t’reatened to end up in the ground, gave a man the stomp, then he got bumped in the head after his whole gang got a beatin’, and now me legs stopped workin’. Average day.”
Jameson laughed. Yep, Marvin was fine. “Good to hear it. Need some help?”
“N…possibly.” Marvin let JJ grab him by the hand and help him up, though he stumbled and ended up leaning on JJ much more than he wanted to.
Voltage walked over to the two of them. “You are okay?” he asked.
“We’re fine,” JJ said with a quavery smile. “Thank you for all your help.”
“It is no problem. I am just doing what is the right thing. But usually…” he gave Jameson a scan with his eyes. “…Usually in these situations I do not meet someone who can do things like that.”
“Oh, ah…” JJ laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, I can’t really explain it. It’s just…something I’ve been born with. Magic, that is.”
“Hmm…” Voltage put his hands on his hips. “I did not think magic was real, but after this…”
“It’s not your beeswax, Mister Voltage,” Marvin growled, giving the hero a prompt whack on the shoulder with his cane topper. Unfortunately, that meant he suddenly lost a support to lean on, and he fell onto JJ, who stumbled before regaining his balance.
“Excuse me, that is Von Voltage.” The words were lacking the snap they were probably intended to have. Voltage was too busy watching JJ struggle to keep Marvin upright. “You did not get your little legs injured during this whole thing, did you?”
“Wh—no,” Marvin said, looking mildly offended. “This is an…unrelated issue. I’ve dealt with it for a long time, nothin’ you need t’concern with.”
Voltage gave him a skeptical look. Then he reached inside a coat and pulled out a phone. Apparently those gloves of his were able to interact with the touch screen just fine. “Well, if that is the case, I am going to give you a phone number. It is not one you have to use, but if you ever need a good doctor I have a friend who would love to assist.”
“I don’ have a phone,” Marvin muttered.
“But it’s okay, because I do.” Jameson awkwardly rummaged around one-handed in his pockets before pulling out said phone. “What’s the number and the name?”
He quickly typed in the number Voltage recited. “His name is Dr. Jackie Parker,” the hero explained. “Is a very good doctor, and I know he will not turn away a person in need.”
“Ah…thank you,” Marvin said quietly. He looked a little shocked at the turn of events. Jameson hoped he would actually consider contacting the doctor. Marvin was one of the most stubborn people he knew, and he didn’t want that to impact his health.
“Is no problem,” Voltage waved it off. “And now, if you excuse me, I am going to open the front doors real quick and then leave right after. Police are not too fond of me.” And with that, he strolled away.
JJ looked at Marvin, who was still basically putting all his weight on him. “Do you want to stand up or sit down.”
“I can—I can stand.” With some effort and the help of his cane, Marvin managed to regain his balance. “T’is has cert’inly been…a night.”
“Tell me about it. Probably my most eventful show, though not in a good way. I do hope that not a lot of people saw what was going on with the magic. Hopefully the police will attribute it to shock. They’re also going to want to check you for shock too, given the whole gun thing.”
“Shock? I don’ understand. Von Voltage didn’ touch me.”
Jameson paused. “No, like…like shellshock? That was a thing back then, right?”
“Ohhhh.”
“They’ll probably give you one of those shock blankets.”
“I get a free blanket?!” Marvin looked oddly excited at the prospect.
JJ laughed. “No, no, you don’t get to keep it. It’s property of the police.”
“Aw.” Marvin glanced over to the front entrance of the venue. “The doors are openin’. Ready to face the world?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be. Come on, let’s go outside finally.”
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“Volt…” Jackie sounded exhausted on the other end. “I can’t believe you actually did that.”
Schneep, watching the police scene around the theatre from on top of a nearby rooftop, sighed. “Well, you would not expect better of me, would you?”
“I really shouldn’t, but I always do. How’s your breathing? The lingering effects of the smoke didn’t bother you?”
“Ah, a little bit of tightness, but I am fine.”
“If I ever find out you’re lying, you do realize I’m going to strap you to your bed and force you to rest.”
“Well, I do now.” Schneep fell silent for a moment, watching the former hostages being helped and talked to by the cops. “I saw…the most unusual thing tonight, Jackie. I do not know how else to describe it than…magical.”
“Really?” Jackie asked, intrigued.
“Also I gave someone your phone number.”
“What?!” Now Jackie sounded less intrigued and more mad. “Henrik, for the love of god. Not only is that a bad idea because of the general ‘don’t give phone numbers to strangers’ rule, but also whoever it is now knows you’re somehow connected to me!”
“Trust me Jackie, the two of them are good people. And they…seemed in need of a bit of help.” Though that one in the jacket and vest also seemed pretty obstinate. “Now, do you want to hear about this magic I saw or should I show up at your house in full Von Voltage gear and give your family a heart attack?”
“Michelle would be excited to know her honorary uncle is a real live superhero,” Jackie said thoughtfully. “But yeah, Rama would freak out. So, tell me the story of what happened.”
“You are going to want to sit down for this one,” Schneep said, grinning.
And as the evening faded completely into night, a new life dawned on the four who’d been touched that day. None of them knew where it was heading, but they all knew things would never be the same again.